Dena Manos

My name is Dena Manos and I am a junior at the University of Florida majoring in advertising with a combined degree in web design. While at UF, I have been the Vice President and Secretary of the Greek American Student Association and our Maids of Athena Chapter along with our Greek dance group. I grew up in the small town of Punta Gorda on the south west coast of Florida where my family was very involved with our local Greek Orthodox Church.

Madeline Hailer

My name is Madeline Hailer, I’m 19 and from Kenosha Wisconsin. I will be a sophomore at UW Madison next year with a major still undecided. Im leaning towards either working with people or animals. I love to sing, eat, and just be happy!

Timothy Clark

Timothy Clark is a rising fifth year senior at North Carolina State University.  He is double majoring in zoology and science education with a concentration in biology.  Once he graduates he plans to go into teaching and at some point return to school to get his masters degree.  While at NC State he has been actively involved in the marching and pep bands for four years.

Taylor Eliades

My name is Taylor Eliades and I am from New Jersey.  I go to Ithaca College and major in Health Science with a pre-dental concentration.  I love playing sports, chocolate, and  the movie zoolander.

Christina Arp

I am from Blue Ridge, Georgia. I am a senior at the University of Georgia where I am majoring in psychology and minoring in music.

Georgina Fatibene

Hi my name is Georgina Fatibene and I am 20 years old and am a senior at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.  I am a sociology major and I am going for my my masters in elementary education. I chose to apply for the Heritage Greece Program because I have always been passionate about my culture and intrigued to learn more and this program seems like an amazing opportunity. I look forward to what this experience has to offer 🙂

Evie (Paraskevi) Kyritsis

Hello! My name is Evie (Paraskevi) Kyritsis. I am going into my second year of undergrad at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where I am studying Aerospace Engineering. I am a second generation of Greek American- two of my grandparents are from Greece and the other two hail from Cyprus (but the Greek part they say!). My home is in New Jersey, where I have grown up since I was born. My interests outside of my studies include, practicing martial arts, playing field hockey, and building things.

I am pumped to learn more about my roots and am excited for the upcoming adventure!

Kathleen Kavanaugh

My name is Kathleen Kavanaugh I am from St. Louis, Missouri and I am studying Elementary Education at the University of Missouri formally known as Mizzou in Columbia, MO. I plan on graduating next year and in the future receiving a Master’s Degree in Elementary and Special Education & Counseling. My mother’s side of the family is Greek Orthodox and she lived in Athens for 5 years.  I also have traveled to Greece before and have seen the islands of Santorini and Mykonos.

Emilie Litsas

Emilie is a sophomore at American University’s School of International Service and a proud Greek New Yorker. She’s dreamed of going to Greece all of her life and cannot believe that she was granted this opportunity! Emilie enjoys sitting around the table eating with her family, studying and experiencing cultures and languages, baking chocolate-chip cookies, singing, and exploring. Her goal for this summer: to start painting and learning acoustic guitar!

Nicole VanKuilenburg

Hello! My name’s Nicole VanKuilenburg and I’m from Billerica, MA. I am currently a 20 year old nursing student going into my junior year at Umass Lowell! I love to sing and play guitar in my spare time and I absolutely love being Greek! Looking forward to furthering my knowledge on what exactly being ‘Greek’ means! 🙂

James Lambros

James Lambros is a Junior and a Hertog Scholar at Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York. He is an Arts Management and Media double major with a minor in political science. Besides playing guitar, bass and mandolin, James is an electronic music producer and an active DJ in NYC. He has recently been a marketing intern at Ultra Records. James’s grandparents hail from the western Peloponnese.

Jennifer Charoni

I’m part of the Jackson school at the University of Washington studying International Studies with a focus on Human Rights. I’m a writer for the University of Washington Daily newspaper and intern at the King County Prosecutor’s office in the homicide unit. I’ve been involved in Greek culture through church my entire life, participating in Sunday school, Greek dancing and Greek festivals, and my childhood mentor was my papou, who is from Chania, Crete. I hope to someday make the world a better place the way he did.

Blake Buckman

I am from Louisville, Kentucky and I am 19 years old. I study at the University of Kentucky and am pursuing a bachelors in Kinesiology and Exercise Science. I am going to be a Junior this upcoming year.

Shannon Smith

My name is Shannon Smith and I’m from Jacksonville, Florida. I’m a rising junior at Auburn University where I’m studying Broadcast Journalism. At school I’m very involved with Auburn’s on-campus TV station as well as with my sorority. I spent the past school year studying the Ancient Greek language so I apologize in advance for pronouncing modern Greek words incorrectly!

Ariana Cernius

Ariana Cernius recently graduated from Harvard College with honors as a joint-  concentrator in Philosophy, and History of Art and Architecture, and with a language citation in Modern Greek. During her time at Harvard, she co-founded and served as President of Harvard Undergraduates Raising Autism Awareness (HURAA), a new organization on campus focused on raising awareness about

autism spectrum disorder in the Harvard community, and providing service and support to the autism community in the Greater Boston area. Ariana was also a member of King School Buddies, the Harvard College Law Society, Harvard College Hellenic Society, Harvard Art Museums Undergraduate Connection

(HAMUC), and served as a student tour guide at the Sackler Museum. Ariana is currently working on a postgraduate fellowship in public service and hopes to pursue degrees in law and business, and a career in public interest law.

Isabella Abatgis

I’m Isabella Abatgis. I’m originally from St. Louis, MO but I’ve been in school at DePaul University as an economics major in Chicago.  I love to play videogames like Skyrim and Bioshock.  I also love to do all sorts of art like painting, photography, and video making. I’ve never been to Greece before and I’m really excited to explore the culture.

Athanasia Dorrance

My name is Athanasia Dorrance, I am 21 years old and going into my senior year at Portland State University. I am pursuing a degree in Music Education with an emphasis in vocal performance. I’m getting married in August of this year recently became a Thea I my sister’s firstborn son. I love watching movies, playing sports, and hanging out with my family.

Thanasi Christoforou

My name is Thanasi Christoforou and I am 21 years old and I currently attend anna Maria college and will be graduating in December 2013. I am a criminal justice major and I am pursuing a career in law enforcement. Specifically, my dream is to become a police officer. I enjoy helping the community and meeting new people. I live about 45 minutes away from Boston, however I live in Worcester, Massachusetts. I love being American but also love the unique part about being Greek-American.

Ashley Betts

Ashley is an Architecture student at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She lives in the city of Kinnelon in the State of New Jersey. She considers her Greek heritage to be a blessing. She believes that this heritage is the nature and source of her greatest happiness in life, her family. She, also, thinks that since she is the first generation of her family that is not 100% Greek it is very important to her to keep her Greek heritage prevalent in her life. She has always dreamed about visiting Greece, but the cost and exertion of such a trip has always prevented her from traveling here. Coming to Greece and participating in the HG program would be an experience that would resonate with her for the rest of her life!

Alexander Graf

Alexander is a Neuroscience major with a minor in Chinese at the University of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Harrison, New York in a second generation Greek-American family. He attended weekly Orthodox Church services, served as an Altar boy for many years and attended Greek school. He has cultivated friendships with many other Greek-Americans. He has been to Greece once (2007) and his sister worked for Deree. He wants to see first-hand the archaeological sites that he has seen in the Greek history books he reads. He believes it is now time for him to spend more time learning about his own culture and he would love to do so through the HG program.

Nicholas Gumas

Nicholas is a student at the San Francisco State University in California majoring in Theater Arts with a minor in Music. He was introduced to the Greek culture by his grandparents and spent a large part of his early childhood immersed in their world. He even took a basic Greek language class at his university this past fall semester. He was thrilled when he walked into the first day of class and realized that he remembered more than he thought he did. He always dreamed to visit Greece and to learn where the customs that have become his nature originated. He would love to have the opportunity to live in the same country as his ancestors, even if only for a few weeks.

Athanasia Livas

Athanasia will be graduating in two years from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore with a major in Political Science and a minor in Economics. She was raised in Kentucky. Being Greek is her ultimate pride. However, her feelings of pride and belonging are matched with an overwhelming sense that she has missed out on much of her heritage. After going to Johns Hopkins University, a whole new world has been opened to her. She has met dozens of Greek international students, joined the Hellenic Students Association, and reached out to Greek professionals in the community. She seeks not only to enrich her own knowledge of her heritage, but also to go back to Kentucky, and wherever else the world takes her, and teach those around her the true, beautiful character of the Greek nation.

Venetia Papadeas

Venetia was born in Denver. She is a freshman studying Philosophy at Eckerd College in Florida. She has been raised in an active Greek Orthodox family and she has three younger siblings- all three with Greek names.  She has participated at the Greek Dance program at her local orthodox church. The people she truly relates with and cherishes friendships with, are mostly Greek. Throughout high school, she was particularly involved in her culture, as she attended Greek Orthodox Summer youth camps, and went on an Orthodox Christian Mission Center trip to Alaska. She is confident that through the HG program, as it is hosted in the country of her forefathers, she will be able to enhance her language skills and her understanding of her culture and overall identity.

Tiffany Witkowski

Tiffany was born and raised in Chicago. She is Philosophy Major with a Minor in English (creative writing). More than anything she considers herself Greek because those are the traditions her family practices. One of the most rewarding feelings for her is going to events of the National Hellenic Society, and feeling a sense of belonging. She wants to pass the values of her grandparents to on her own children one day so they know the principles of a united people that can concur anything. She would love to participate in the HG program because she feels it would only expand her appreciation of the Greek culture and would help strengthen her Greek Language skills.

Michael Zaruba

Michael is graduating in one year from the University of Maryland at College Park with a Major in Astronomy (!). As a third generation Greek-American, it is somewhat difficult for him to identify with his Greek heritage. He went to Greek school for several years, attended Greek Orthodox Church every Sunday and would often go with his mother to Greek festivals where he got to try out Greek dancing.  He has been taking Modern Greek Language courses at his University for the past three years. He is excited about learning any new language because it opens the possibility of being able to communicate with and learn about many people.  He participates in the HG program because he would like to have the opportunity to experience Greek culture in a way he would never be able to from staying in the US.